The director-general of Obi-Datti presidential campaign council, Akin Osuntokun, has distanced himself from a press statement which claimed that the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akinolu, disallowed the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, from visiting him during his campaign rally in the state on Saturday.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Osuntokun stated the alleged remark is false and did not originate from him.
“My notice has been directed to a fraudulent “Press Release” apparently made by me titled “Oba of Lagos: LP courteous Visit”,” the statement states.
“The aforementioned false announcement said, among other things that ‘We notified Oba of Lagos that Peter Obi wanted to visit and pay tribute to him before our gathering in Lagos but Oba insisted that we should not come’. The bogus announcement also stated that Oba’s rationale for not wanting to meet with Peter Obi was that ‘Oba is not interested in meeting another presidential contender save Bola Tinubu’.
“I want to explicitly say that the bogus release did not emerge from me, and I never had such a chat with the esteemed Oba of Lagos or any of his officials. Please dismiss the release as whatever it represents.
“Henceforth, please dismiss any other release that does not emanate from our campaign’s official communication channels.”
On Saturday, the LP candidate conducted his final campaign rally at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos after touring around the nation to canvass for votes.
His supporters were assaulted by hoodlums and several cars were wrecked at the rally location.
Speaking on Arise TV’s morning program on Monday, the party’s state chairman, Dayo Ekong, claimed the damage stretched into millions of naira.
She also commented on why Mr Obi did not pay honour to the state’s monarch before his campaign rally.
Ms Ekong claimed she was informed that the traditional ruler was not accessible.
“People speak what they don’t know. If you have been watching the trajectory of Peter Obi’s rise. He goes to the royal fathers, and pays his respects,” she stated.
“Obi made efforts to visit the Oba of Lagos but we were not able to see the Oba of Lagos.
“Normally if he is heading to the palace, there should have been a pre-arrangement telling the Oba that he is on his way. In a circumstance when they indicated the Oba is not accessible, he is not going to a vacant palace”
